There is a reason Tem is called the Red Demon. She does what she wants when she wants. No one controls her. Time and space do not hinder her. Worshipped on ancient Earth as a goddess among many people in many different lands, nobody opposes her, except her creations, Issa Bokinan and Kane Tirol.

Having left her own daughters behind on Earth as seed stock for future generations, Tem had hoped to make a life with Kane. That is not to be. Rejected, alone and broken, she seeks comfort in the past with the Empress Ya, on Persephone, promising to behave and keep her identity a secret. Tem is hard pressed to control her worst impulses when she’s caught riding the Empress’ prize stallion.

Horse Master, Aytan Kirrae, cannot believe his eyes. A small Red Woman has just ridden off on the stallion named for him, a horse bred for the Empress Ya. He waits for her return, flipping her over his knee, meting out what he thinks will be a kinder punishment than she would receive from the Magistrate. He has no idea the small Red Woman can kill him with a single drop of her blood.

Pulled along to the future against his will, Aytan thinks he’s dreaming, until he must share the Blood Bond with Tem to save her life. Once he does, his own life will never be the same.

Just harvested 8 bushels of lemons. I’ve got at least 3 more still up in the tree. I’m declaring 2014 The Year of Abundant Lemon Curd. Every season we get some of the oddest lemons. I suspect it’s because our lemon tree has reverted to an earlier and far more ancient genotype. Those pictured above are not even the best. I gave the best to the neighbor’s kids to take to school for show and tell.

Ah, free books! What better way to start the year. I’m starting off with my Four-BookSpace Opera Omnibus – The Daughters of Persephone. Go here and upload all you grasshoppers!

Princess-in-exile, Aja Bokinan, is the Thousand Year Empress. While her family has remained in forced isolation for nearly thirty years, women throughout the empire have been banned from public life. Females have no legal standing and they have become little better than property. The restoration of the monarchy is their only hope. Revolution threatens the male dominated Coalition. Resistance forces expect the Princess to be the salvation of the empire. The ruling generals fear she will be its destruction. Kyr Aram, is a smuggler and secret Resistance sympathizer. He must find a way to protect the Princess from both the general who plans her assassination and a traitor on his own ship who wishes to see her dead. Kyr believes she is no more than valuable cargo. With the Thousand Year Empress, he gets more than he bargained for.The Lady Ennat, has been sent by her mother to Resistance Commander, Karna Aram for protection. She is a Blood decoy. Her role is to protect her sister Aja, the Thousand Year Empress. She must draw the bulk of the Coalition forces away from the Resistance fighters. From the beginning she’s known she may not live to see tomorrow, yet despite her misgivings she finds herself drawn to Commander Aram. Karna Aram wanted the woman from the moment she set foot on his supply depot, but nobody touches a Princess of the Blood. He resists his bone deep desire until Ennat challenges him to pick up a sword and spar with her. All bets are off. Karna has a different kind of sword play in mind.When the Ennat and her sister, Aja, are reunited, they know the Coalition is coming after them. They must risk all to save their devoted fighters and the men they love.A thousand years have passed since the Empress Aja Bokinan and her consort Kyr Aram settled on Calen. As the legend foretold, a great evil has arisen. Black Frocks scour the planets, searching out women, children and even men with a trace of the Royal Blood, sacrificing them to their dark god.When they see her mahogany hair and gray eyes, Issa Bokinan’s family flees the village for the safety of the mountains, but even that is not far enough. It is up to The Red Demon, Tem, to hide the young Empress away in the past, teaching her to use her powers, grooming her for the day when she will face the Black Frocks and her own death.But the Red Demon has a plan within a plan. She’s meddled in the gene pool, producing a man with powers Women of the Blood only dream of. She wants Kane Tirol for her own, but Kane, a Calen man, wants nothing to do with the Red Demon. He is bonded to Issa Bokinan, and not even time can keep them apart.There is a reason Tem is called the Red Demon. She does what she wants when she wants. No one controls her. Time and space do not hinder her. Worshipped on ancient Earth as a goddess among many people in many different lands, nobody opposes her, except her creations, Issa Bokinan and Kane Tirol.Having left her own daughters behind on Earth as seed stock for future generations, Tem had hoped to make a life with Kane. That is not to be. Rejected, alone and broken, she seeks comfort in the past with the Empress Ya, on Persephone, promising to behave and keep her identity a secret. Tem is hard pressed to control her worst impulses when she’s caught riding the Empress’ prize stallion. Horse Master, Aytan Kirrae, cannot believe his eyes. A small Red Woman has just ridden off on the stallion named for him, a horse bred for the Empress Ya. He waits for her return, flipping her over his knee, meting out what he thinks will be a kinder punishment than she would receive from the Magistrate. He has no idea the small Red Woman can kill him with a single drop of her blood.Pulled along to the future against his will, Aytan thinks he’s dreaming, until he must share the Blood Bond with Tem to save her life. Once he does, his own life will never be the same.

One of my all-time favorite works of science fiction is Ringworld, by Larry Niven. He creates a colorful cast of characters who set out on an epic journey to explore an anomaly, a ring-shaped, artificially created, giant planet containing an earth-like atmosphere and ecosphere. The crew includes the giraffy guy…that’s how I like to remember him, and the lucky guy – because in this story, luck is genetic. Ringworld is my husband’s very favorite work of science fiction.

So last night, hubby was reading my book, Daughters of Persephone, on his Kindle. Since I’m stuck downstairs with the new puppy, he came down to discuss his thoughts.

“I don’t know,” I replied, “but they coexist in both Captured and Daughters of Persephone .”

“Yes,” he said, “but true science fiction aficionados might go into shock when they come upon an explicit sex scene while fans of erotic romance might not get the science fiction, especially the science fiction references you’ve included.”

“Well, hmmm, but that’s what I’ve written.”

“But is there a market for this? Is there an audience?”

Good question, hubby! I don’t have a clue. I hope so!

Can the two genres meet in the middle? In Dune, for example, while the romance takes a backseat to the overarching messianic theme, there is love in the book. In George R.R. Martin’s series, A Game of Thrones, there is sex, not what I would consider erotic sex or romance, but sex nonetheless.

Science fiction romance is not Paranormal, i.e., Vampire Romance, Shifter Romance, Were Romance, Faerie Romance, time travel romance…those fall more in the realm of fantasy and are a sort of pop-culture genre right now. Science fiction is not necessarily post-apocalyptic, although it may contain post-apocalyptic elements, nor is it quite Steam Punk – which does contain elements of science fiction. I don’t know whether science fiction romance is a separate genre, a sub-genre, a new genre, a finding its way genre…and I have no idea if there is a fan base. From what I’ve read on the blogs, there isn’t, not really.

Here’s what pops into my head when I imagine a damn good science fiction story containing romance and sex in addition to outstanding science fiction elements – The Terminator.

Damn you sportscasters! Damn you all to hell! I saw Andres Torres first! I picked him out last year as a baseball stud and I became a fangirl – now you all jump on my bandwagon! Ha – I say – ha ha! Really, ask my husband…the very first time I saw him play with the San Francisco Giants, I said, Who is that man and why doesn’t he get more playing time? Like, why isn’t he starting every game? Of course he had some injuries last year, but anybody with half a brain could see what kind of athlete he is!

I like it – Torrid Torres! On Wednesday, against the Marlins, he had a Splash Hit. He now has two. My other favorite Giants player, Aubrey Huff, also has two. So…here are my guys – and they have been since the first time I saw them – Andres Torres, Juan Uribe, Aubrey Huff, Travis Ishikawa, and Jonathan Sanchez. Yeah, sure, everybody likes The Freak, Matt Cain, and Brian Wilson. Man, that Bumgarner can throw and Buster Posey is amazing - why the heck wasn’t he brought up sooner??? Hmmmm??? I like every guy on that team, but I love me some Andres Torres!

Yes, there is no contradiction…you can write science fiction/romance and still love baseball. My guys have always been baseball players.

So…Thank you very much Steph, at Fangs Wands and Fairy Dust, for letting me take over your blog yesterday and many thanks to those of you who stopped by.

Today, Friday, I’m over at Anna’s place. She’s posted an interview with The Thousand Year Empress, Aja Bokina, a Daughter of Persephone. Come see what makes her tick and maybe win an e-copy of this fun, sexy, romantic, kick ass science fiction book. http://s7anna.blogspot.com/